DOTDBV ZDWFKLQJ (Always Watching)
by bornpuppetdiedcrying
Summary: Dipper Pines has always been called paranoid by his twin sister Mabel. Ever since the Pines twins came to Gravity Falls Dipper has felt like there were eyes glued onto his very being. He didn't feel save awake or asleep and he decided that it might help writing everything that happened that summer down in a journal of his own. But the writing only does so much [full summary inside]
1. Dear Diary

p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Title: DOTDBV ZDWFKLQJ (ALWAYS WATCHING)/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Rating: Mature (for language and gore)/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Characters: Dipper Pines, Bill Cipher, Mabel Pines, Grunkle Stan/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Pairings: Wendy/Dipper(one-sided), Bill Cipher/Dipper (one-sided), Pacifica/Mabel/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Summary: Dipper Pines has always been called paranoid by his twin sister Mabel. Ever since the Pines twins came to Gravity Falls Dipper has felt like there were eyes glued onto his very being. He didn't feel save awake or asleep and he decided that it might help writing everything that happened that summer down in a journal of his own. But the writing only does so much. With his dreams invaded by a shrouded figure and his days bullied by his Grunkle, Dipper's patience is wearing thin and he might just snap at the worst possible time./p  
hr style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;" noshade="noshade" size="1" /  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Chapter 1:/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"I've always been called paranoid by my twin sister Mabel, even before we came to Gravity Falls for the summer and this whole mess started./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Ever since I was young — well, younger — I've always been a fairly a cautious person. I didn't enjoy playing sports (because I could get broken forever), and I could never really connect with my peers, so it was always just me and Mabel. We'd play together all the time, but Mabel had other friends she could play with while I was… well, mostly alone. That is, of course, unless you count all the books that kept me company during recess and my increasing bouts of insomnia./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"So instead of actually risking my life to go on amazing adventures, I'd experience them through books and movies. I did this not simply because I had no one to adventure with besides Mabel, but because I realized early on that I was incredibly… well I guess you could say, "sensitive" or, er, easily influenced by my environment — which was effectively proven by mine and Mabel's stay with our Grunkle Stan./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Back home where everything was routine and considered normal, I would never dream of exploring the woods with little to no back up. But when I found the journal that first week in Oregon, it was like I was placed under a spell. I began to break out of my shell little by little and took more and more risks to understand the supernatural beings and occurrences that surrounded the sleepy town of Gravity Falls./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"I'm not entirely sure of the exact date when this all began; shortly after I found the journal is the closest I could probably say. Now you must be wondering what I'm talking about. Well, like I stated before, I've always been called paranoid by my sister... not to mention my parents and classmates and teachers... Anyways, I've been called paranoid (and many other things) by these people since I can remember and coming to Gravity Falls has only increased the teasing from not only Mabel, but Grunkle Stan — who practically made a sport out of tormenting me./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"You may be curious as to why my paranoia - and anxiety - has increased tenfold since coming here this summer, and I'm going to tell you./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"No, it's not because of the journal./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Or the fact that I'm teenage boy who kind of has a one sided crush on a girl who (hopefully only at the moment) saw me as a little brother. Though that could play some part into it, instead, it was much worse./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Ever since I came to Gravity Falls with Mabel I've felt like— like— something was watching me… No matter where I was, I could feel someone —or something— watching my every move. From waking up in the morning, to stripping down for bed, I felt the stare trained on my being. Hell, it didn't even stop when I went into the bathroom or showered (which made my already poor hygiene become even worse.)/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"All I can really say is that I've been at my Grunkle's for a little over two weeks, and so far I already have a sour taste in my mouth from my constant worrying. It doesn't help that Mabel was almost made queen of the gnomes (and that we nearly died when I went to save her). I know that Mabel's boy crazy but if she attracts any more supernatural creatures, I'm going to freak out. Gnomes are bad enough, but what if she starts dating a vampire or a zombie? I don't even want to think about it./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"It's hard to believe that I've been here for two weeks and I can already feel myself slipping./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Into the secrets of Gravity Falls./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The mysteries of the journal./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"My paranoia./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"My fears./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Truthfully… I'm falling and unlike Mabel, I don't have a grappling hook to save me from crashing./p 


	2. Rotting Nightmare

p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"strong*This chapter was edited by almostkawaii my awesome beta*/strong/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Always Watching chapter 1 (Rotting Nightmare)/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Hey Dipper?" Mabel called from her bed./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Yeah?"/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"We've been laying in our respective beds for what feels like hours (though it was probably only twenty something minutes). I rolled onto my side so I was facing Mabel, but was barely able to make out her silhouette with the dim moonlight filtering through the attic's grime coated window./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"It was weird, sitting in the silence for that moment in time. Mabel was always so lively and active that it was almost as if she wasn't there. And let me tell you - that's not a good thing. Where there was dead silence I can just feel the eyes on me. I can almost hear a demented laugh ring through my ears. I used to like being alone to read or just disconnect from human contact, but now it feels like I'm being strangled - run down like a helpless woodland creature on the highway. So when Mabel spoke up, I was definitely relieved. I wasn't sure what she was going to talk about but hopefully it would take my mind off of my paranoid thoughts./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""You know you can tell me anything right?" I had no idea where this was coming from, and it just made the heavy weight in my stomach grow a couple hundred pounds./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""W-where did that come from Mabel?" I couldn't stop the slight quivering to my voice. It didn't make any sense. I had no reason to be nervous around Mabel. She was my sister for crying out loud! But at the same time a voice in the back of my head whispered, "emMabel being your sister doesn't mean anything. It doesn't stop her from teasing you until you feel like crying. Or keep her from taking your things and acting like she had no idea how they got into her possession. She hasn't done much to reassure you that she's trustworthy. Pine tree, she isn't as innocent as she looks."/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Pine tree?"/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""You haven't been acting like yourself lately dumb-dumb. You were really jumpy today and nearly jumped out of your skin when Grunkle Stan had us wear those blindfolds to take us to the lake."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I had good reason to be jumpy! You know how Grunkle Stan drives! I was fearing for my life!"/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""You were screaming like a little girl the whole time!"/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I was not!" I retorted, my voice cracking slightly./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Ha!" Mabel snorted and I felt blood rush to my cheeks. "You totally were! At the slightest bump you squeaked like a little mouse! It was emadorable/em!"/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Shut up Mabel!" I growled, throwing my pillow angrily at my twin./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Mabel continued to laugh as my pillow missed it's mark, landing in the middle of the attic from my weak noodle-arm strength. Now I was pillowless and unless I wanted to go to bed without any support for my neck I'd have to crawl out of my warm cocoon of covers to retrieve it. After a minute Mabel's laughter died down and it was like a switch was flicked and when Mabel spoke I could just hear the frown on her usually smiling face. "But seriously Dipper? If you… want to talk- about anything, I'll happily listen."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""emShe's lying."/em The voice cooed, "emShe's just trying to get dirt on you. Keep quiet."/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I- I uh..." I felt so conflicted. I wanted to tell Mabel, but at the same time the voice had a good point. Mabel could easily use this against me. "I'm fine… Really. The fact that we- you know, almost died today has just caught up with me."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""If you say so…" Mabel murmured sounding unconvinced, "But I still think you're hiding something from me..."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""What- no! Mabel, you're my sister and my best friend. Would I lie to you?"/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""emYes, yes you would."/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""No you wouldn't. And I guess you're right… And now that I'm thinking back on it it's a total bummer that the gobblewonker was a complete bust."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Yeah, at least we got to spend quality time with Grunkle Stan. That could be counted as a positive, I guess."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Yeah, I guess. I still want a human sized hamster ball. But I think we should probably go to sleep. Grunkle stan will want us up early to help down in the shop."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Nodding in agreement despite the fact that Mabel couldn't see me I whispered a soft "Night Mabel." and crawled out of my bed. I sucked in a sharp breath at the chill that shot up my back and scurried back to bed once I had my pillow in my hand. When I was under my warm covers once more I turned my back to Mabel, and a grimace rolled over my face. What's wrong with me?/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Night Dipper"/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""emSweet dreams Pine tree, Shooting star."/em/p  
hr style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;" noshade="noshade" size="1" /  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"I was sitting on the roof of the Mystery shack with Wendy. The sun was setting over the trees of the surrounding forest and the sky was painted with hues of pink and a hint of night. Glancing in her direction, I felt my heart ache as the soft breeze ruffled Wendy's long crimson hair. The sinking sun cast a warm glow around her and she looked like something akin to an angel./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Dipper, I'm really happy we came up here- just the two of us." Wendy smiled and slid her hand over so our pinkies grazed one another./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"I felt blood rush to my face and I furiously nodded my head in agreement. "Y- yeah. You- you look beautiful by the way." I froze at the words that escaped my mouth "I- I- I- I meant "it"- like the sunset, it looks beautiful tonight! Heh..." I rubbed the nape of my neck nervously afraid that the red haired beauty beside me would blow up in anger./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Much to my relief Wendy didn't scream in rage or disgust, instead I heard a bell like laugh fall from her lips. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew something was wrong. Wendy had always had a coarse laugh and would sometimes even snort if you were funny enough./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Wendy?" I stuttered. I could feel a familiar pressure wash over me and a cold sweat broke out on my brow./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Yes Dipper?" Wendy cockled her head to the side in confusion. "Are you okay? You seem tense." I gulped and tried to put some space between the older teen and me. "Dipper?" Wendy edged closer. "emYou seem on edge. Do you need some help?/em" As she drew closer I felt my throat tighten. Wendy- beautiful Wendy with just the right amount of freckles and wild hair, looked at me with wide blackening eyes. "emDipper?/em" her voice deepened and gained a grainy, almost static-like tone. I could only watch in horror as her already fair skin turned ashen and the hand she reached out to rest on my shoulder had bits of rotting flesh slide off her palm and fingers revealing ugly muscles and sludge like blood in it's place. "emLet me help you."/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"I tried to keep back my sick as limp flesh landed ungracefully in my lap and once pearly teeth started to fall from Wendy's mouth as an ugly yellow color. As she drew closer, continuously asking how she could help me and a putrid stench invaded my nostrils and I began to hack. "W- Wendy..." I continued to shuffle away from the girl till I nearly fell off the roof of the mystery shack. "W- Wendy- no! G- get away from me!" My demand didn't seem to reach Wendy's ears as she edged closer./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""emBut Dipper… I can help you" /emBit by bit Wendy was falling apart. I was suffocating on the stench of festering flesh and could feel bile rise up my throat./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""No… Wendy..." I felt the burning behind my eyes grow more pronounced as my situation was processed through my mind. Wendy. My older crush was actually decomposing right in front of me. I could see her flesh tear away from her bones and how her eyes, glassy and dark began to melt into a disgusting sludge and creep down her once flushed cheeks leaving a discolored slime as it fell. Her clothes now hung limp and lumpy on her body and they began to gain dark splotches as her blood and body fluids were soaked up by the well worn fabric. The smile she tried to give me became lopsided as her muscles decomposed and I could see her hair slowly shift on her head./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"I turned my head to try and avoid the horrific sight before me, and before Wendy could edge any closer to me, she fell limp as if a huge weight was dropped on top of her. Her half fleshed face landed on my lap and out of fright I shoved her off of me and with that, off of the roof. With wide shaking eyes I peeked over the edge and saw Wendy- Wendy who was one of my best friends and one of my biggest crushes lay still on the ground. If you had just stumbled upon her you might have been able to think she was simply asleep. That is of course if it wasn't for the mess of tangled limbs and gore pooling around her mangled body./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Bringing a hand up to my mouth in horror I let out a shriek in terror at the clump of bloody hair that was stuck to my hand. I felt the lump in the back of my throat grow as I quickly scrambled to get the remains off my body. I didn't care I got splinters stuck into my flesh, I just needed to remove the blood that reminded me that Wendy was gone. Looking down at the now bloody roof I knew that I couldn't hold back my vomit any longer. With a jerky motion I practically threw my upper body off of the roof and heaved, feeling thick chunks and stomach acid shoot up my throat and into my nose as my body instinctively tried to keep my sick down. I clenched my eyes shut as tears slipped down my face and I had to struggle to breath between each bout of throw up that made it's way out of my foul tasting mouth./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Oh God - oh God! W-what?" Hacking I tried to get out the bits of sick that made their way up my nose, filling my senses with the horrible smell and taste of half digested surprise burrito and pit cola. "Why did this- why did this happen?!" I continued to avoid the sight of the decrepit corpse of my friend until I felt hands grab my arms pulling me farther onto the roof. Flailing backwards, my back landed on the person's torso./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""emHey, hey, it's okay"/em the person cooed wrapping their arms firmly around my waist and resting their chin against the crown of my head. "emShe was a waste of space who got in the way."/em The person chuckled softly and nuzzled my head with their nose. "emYou don't need her! You have me!"/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""W- who?" Arching my neck I came face to face with a carbon copy of myself, only this Dipper- this other me had golden eyes with elongated, almost cat-like pupils and instead of my new pinetree symboled trucker-hat, there was now a golden triangle in it's place. "Who are you?" I whimpered as I tried to distance myself from my copy, but his grip remained firm./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""emHmm.../em" He hummed in thought. "emYou can call me Will./em"/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Will?" I tried to keep my eyes on my copy and at the same time forget about the fact that my breath must have smelt absolutely horrible. Actually i know it smelt rank, because my nose was still partially filled with nasty chunks and I couldn't breath through my nose without gagging on the smell and the chunks that would travel through my nasal passage./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Will nodded his head and shot me a grin that was all teeth. "emMhm! Pine tree, this'll be great! Now that Red is out of the picture we can do whatever /ememstrongwe/strong/em emwant!"/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Red?" I paused for a moment to try and figure out who Will was talking about. "You mean Wendy? Wait- did- did you do this to her?!" I tried once again to wrench myself out of Will's grip, this time using my soiled hands but all I did was smear some left over blood on his pale flesh and left slightly raised welts on his skin from my nubby nails. "Will!"/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""emPine Tree, how could I do anything?"/em Will rhetorically asked, "emShe fell apart. Kinda like that Humpty dumpty thing. She fell apart and can't be put back together again. But it's okay, okay Pinetree? We'll be fine without 'er!"/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""No!" I continually struggled against Will "H- how - what? Let me go!"/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""emI can't do that Pine Tree!" /emWill hummed contently with me pressed against his chest. He didn't even seem affected by my struggles and burrowed his face into the crook of my neck. "emI could easily stay here forever. You're such a comfy pillow Pine tree." /emWill's breath grazed my ear and a shiver shot down my spine. I was disgusting. Covered in sick and bits of Wendy and Will was acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Will let go!" I felt my breath pick up and my heart pounded harshly against my rib cage. "Please let me go! I can't breathe!"/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""emWhat's wrong Pine tree?"/em Will frowned at my panicking state in confusion. "emI thought you like hugs..."/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"It was like I couldn't hear Will. I was freaking out and I just wanted to get out of the situation "Let me go, let me go." I whimpered clutching my quivering arm. "Please!" I didn't know what was happening around me but one moment I felt like a trapped rabbit in Will's arms and the next I was gasping for breath as I tumbled out of bed and into the bathroom where I spent the next thirty minutes or so heaving and trying get the foul taste out of my nose and the vomit out of my nose. Sitting on the cold bathroom floor I curled up into a ball and tears spilled from my eyes. "Why?" I mumbled into my bare knees "Why can't I get a break when I'm asleep? I just wanted to enjoy my summer! Not dread every second of it!" Another ten minutes or so were spent trying to get control of my emotions and when the bathroom got to cold for me I snuck back upstairs to the attic and changed into my everyday clothes. Despite the fact that my alarm clock said that it was three in the morning, I knew that I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep. Not after that nightmare./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Crawling on top of my covers I grabbed one of my books and just tried to forget./p 


	3. Men of Wax

*Un-beta'd*

Life continued on as normal, or as normal as it can get in gravity falls and I tried to ignore the nagging feeling that nestled in the back of my mind. After the nightmare about Wendy, I was lucky that Mabel didn't question why I was up and dressed before her. Usually she'd jump on my bed and try to collapse one of my lungs but for whatever reason she shrugged it off like nothing was wrong. Following mabel downstairs into the kitchen I saw Grunkle Stan grumbling over his usual cup of coffee, his beer belly sticking out of his stained wife beater and heavy bags under his eyes. I must have looked worst than I thought cause Stan raised an eyebrow when he saw Mabel and I and reached over to the ancient coffee maker and poured another mug before handing it off to me.

"Uh… Thanks Grunkle Stan." I gave him a weary smile and shuffled over to the counter where we kept the sugar and added a spoonful into the dark drink. I don't usually drink coffee - well it's more like my parents wouldn't let me drink coffee, afraid that I would get addicted to the caffeine at a young age and it would mess me up in the future. Thankfully Stan didn't care about that and for whatever reason was _nice_ enough to get me the drink without my asking.

"Don't mention it kid. You look dead on your feet - but seriously though, don't mention it."

"Right..." I hunched my shoulder and sat down at the table. Mabel was busying herself over by the stove making what smelled to be eggs of some kind and pancakes.

By the time breakfast was done, I was already started on my second mug of coffee and infinitely grateful for the caffeine boost. "Here you go Dip-Dop, Grunkle Stan!" Mabel lisped as she brought over three plates over to the table,"My special sparkle, rainbow sprinkle scrambled eggs and pancakes that look like your face! Yay! Self cannibalism!"

Ignoring Mabel's outburst I checked out the food. I think I'd be afraid to go into Mabel's mind, I think it'd be filled with nothing but glitter, rainbows, and boy bands - oh and sweaters. Picking up my fork I dug into the eggs and hummed in approval. While Mabel did go a bit crazy with the edible glitter, she could really cook well. Better than me anyway. I can only really boil water which isn't too bad. At least I can make myself tea if need be. "This is really good Mabel" I complimented and saw that Mabel's silver lined smile grew wider as she took a sip of her 'Mabel Juice', a plastic dinosaur bumped into her lip as it tried to escape the confines of the glitter filled glass.

"Thanks Dipper" Mabel put her glass down and wriggled her arms a little. "Nothing makes Breakfast better than glitter and a little bit of color to lighten up the start of your day."

Grunkle Stan snorted into his drink and ruffled Mabel's already wild hair with his free hand. "Whatever you say Kid. Not everyone's a ray of sunshine in the morning like you."

"Aw, but Grunkle Stan, I think you're a beautiful ray in the morning!"

It was my turn to snort into my food as I watched the two of them banter back and forth with one another. It was really interesting to see how two people who're almost complete opposites could get along as well as they did. I mean, Grunkle Stan was almost always grouchy and was cheap to boot. Mabel on the other hand was bubbly, boy obsessed and gave away things like it was going out of style.

Mabel turned to me after she and Grunkle Stan had calmed down a bit and asked me if I wanted to watch the newest episode of Ducktective this afternoon. "Sure Mabel, but you might want to get dressed before hand. I think Grunkle Stan'll want us to work before we do that." I glanced at Stan and saw him nod in confirmation. With all of our plates cleared, we dropped them in the sink and went our separate ways. Well, more like Mabel and I went up to our room and Grunkle Stan went off to who knows where. Once we were upstairs I went over to my bed and put on my new hat while Mabel picked through her wide variety of sweaters and skirts.

She finally decided on a bright blue sweater with a giant strawberry on it and a hot pink skirt to go with it. "I'm gonna go take a shower Dipper, Don't get too lonely while I'm gone" Mabel gave me an exaggerated wink and strutted down stairs to get cleaned up. While Mabel was taking a shower I threw on my sneakers and walked downstairs and into the main shop of the Mystery Shack.

"Hey Grunkle Stan" I greeted. Stan had changed into his "Mr. Mystery" outfit and was counting the money in the cash register. "Do you need help with anything?"

"Oh, Dipper." Stan looked up from his beloved cash and gestured towards the supply closet. "Could you start sweeping the floors? Some dingus tracked in a ton of dirt yesterday and we gotta have the Shack looking at least slightly presentable."

"Alright." shuffling over, I open the Supply closet and pull out an old broom and dustpan. I start sweeping and watch as the time slowly dragged closer to opening time. At nine o'clock Stan flips the sign on the front door to 'Open' and we watch as a tourist bus pulls up and lets out a crowd of people.

"Am I late?" Mabel stumbled into the shop room , her hair still a little damp but otherwise put together.

"You made it just in time." I gave Mabel a reassuring smile and pat her on the shoulder. "Do you want floor or cash register duty? Grunkle Stan is gonna do the mystery tours."

"I'll take the floor. I have a way with words!"

"Whatever you say Mabel."

* * *

It was interesting, working at the Mystery Shack - scamming people left and right with cheap merchandise and fake monsters. Grunkle Stan let Mabel and I take a lunch break and watch the newest episode of Ducktective. After taking off my vest and sneakers I sat on the ground next to Mabel and watched our show eagerly. It really was crazy that someone got the idea of a duck being a detective in their head and then making it into a tv show.

"Dipper, isn't Duck-tective amazing? He's a genius!" Mabel grinned and flailed her sweater sleeves in excitement.

I shrug, "I guess, you know he's just a character though, right?"

"What?!" Mabel gasped in mock horror. "Dip-per! Duck-tective _is_ real - in our hearts!"

I chuckle and nod my head in agreement. "I guess you're right."

"Of course I am!"

* * *

Duck-tective was coming to an end when Soos slid into the living room. "Dudes! You'll never guess what I found!"

"Buried treasure!" I shout, throwing my arms into the air.

"Ah - jerk!" Mabel laughed and lightly punched my shoulder, "I was gonna say that!"

Once we got off our butts, Mabel and I followed Soos down the hallway to a door that looks like it hasn't been opened in _years._

"I found it when i was cleaning the hallway." Soos explained, "There was a door handle conveniently left on the floor and I saw a hole in the wallpaper and figured, 'why not see if this door handle fits into this hole i've never seen before.' And what do you know! I found this neat wax museum!"

"This is so cool!" I gasped in awe, I had no idea that this room existed even though Mabel and I have gone exploring through the mystery shack a bunch of times since we've come to Gravity Falls.

"Yeah..." Mabel agreed, reaching out to touch one of the figures. "They're so life like."

"They really are." I examined the figures closely but was mindful of the dust that lightly coated them. "It's crazy how we didn't know that this room even existed."

The room was quiet for a minute until a familiar gruff voice came from the door, "Hey kids!"

"Ah!" I let out a _manly_ shriek and whipped my head towards Grunkle Stan.

"Ha ha!" Mabel laughed, "Bro bro - you're adorable!"

"Am not Mabel!" I protested, crossing my skinny arms over my chest.

"You _so_ are!"

I huffed in aggravation and turned to Grunkle Stan. "Grunkle Stan? What is this place?"

Stan scratched his stomach before gesturing to the various figures. "This used to be one of the Mystery Shack's biggest attraction! 'The Mystery Shack Wax Museum'... That is until I forgot about it. I got 'em all! Genghis Khan, Sherlock Holmes." Stan paused for a second "... Some kinda - I don't know… Goblin man..."

After standing in the newly found room after a couple minutes the awe washed away as I felt eyes once again bore into my back. "Is it just me or is anyone else getting the creeps?"

Stan Ignored my question and continued to name off the various figures. "And finally, my favorite - wax Abraham Lincol- Oh - oh - no! Who left the blinds open?! Wax John Wilkes Booth I'm looking in your direction!" Mabel and I watched as Stan knelt down next to the pile of mush that once was Lincoln. He swiped a finger through the melted wax with a frown on his face and asked, "How do you even _fix_ a wax figure?"

"Don't worry Grunkle Stan" Mabel placed a hand on Stan's shoulder, " I'll make you a new wax figure from all this old wax."

"You really think you can make one of these puppies?"

Mabel tipped her head up and spoke in a regal tone, "Grunkle Stan, I am and arts and crafts _master_. I can easily make you a new wax figure!"

"I like your gumption kid." Stan smiled, cracking a pointer finger in Mabel's direction.

"I don't know what that word means, but thank you."

Watching Mabel and Grunkle Stan's interaction here made my gut feel a little heavier. I've known Mabel for twelve years and I knew how when she got a project on hand she goes all out and most of her ideas are outlandish and crazy. 'Oh God, please don't have this turn out badly.' I thought as a shiver ran down my spine.

* * *

It was an hour or so later and Stan hadn't demanded that we work in the mystery shack again, so I spent my time talking to Soos - my only friend besides Mabel (who doesn't really count because she's my sister).

"Hey Soos, do you think that Grunkle Stan'll use the wax figures to draw in more customers?"

"Oh yeah dude." Soos nodded and crossed his arms over his chest "there's no doubt in my mind. I just hope Mabel will make a sweet figure to go with the ones Stan already has."

"Yeah…" Pausing for a moment I thought back to some of the ideas that Mabel has come up with in the past and decided that it might be the best idea to leave Mabel by herself as she works up designs. "You know what? I'm gonna go check up on Mabel."

"Kay Dude. I'll see ya later"

"Hey Mabel," I called, walking into the side room.

"Hey Dip-Dop! Wanna see these ideas I have for the new statue?"

"Sure..."

Mabel pulled out her sketchpad and showed me her ideas. "She's part fairy princess and part _horse_ fairy princess!"

"Um" I hesitated, not wanting to blatantly dismiss Mable's ideas. "Why don't you find inspiration from the family, or real life?"

Mabel shot me a smile and quickly sketched a new picture. "Like a waffle, with big arms!"

"Not exactly what I meant..." I muttered staring at the aggressive waffle sketch.

Mabel was about to say something when Grunkle Stan shuffled into the room rubbing his stubble covered neck. He was half dressed. He wore his 'Mr. Mystery' suit top, but only a pair of boxers and worn down slippers were on his lower half. "Have you kids seen my pants?" Stan propped his foot up on a briefcase that was just laying on the ground without any real purpose and squinted his eyes across the room.

Mabel gasped with stars in her eyes. "Oh muse" Mabel sighed dreamily, "You work in _mysterious_ _ways_."

Stan quirked a brow and asked me "Why is your sister talking to the ceiling?" I shrugged in response.

And with Mabel inspired, she set out to make the new wax figure. I stayed out of her way, not wanting to get trampled on during her work.

Around four hours later Mabel was just about finished with her figure. She called Soos and I into her work zone to show off her masterpiece. "Hm..." Mabel hummed, "I think… It needs more glitter..."

"Agreed" Soos handed Mabel a bucket of glitter that she chucked on top of the wax Grunkle Stan.

Grunkle Stan walked into the room scratching his back. "I found my pants but now I'm missing my - oh my God!" Our live Grunkle shrieked as he fell to the floor.

"What do you think?" Mabel asked from her leaning position over Stan.

"I think… The wax museum is back in business!"


End file.
